Chris

DiMarco

He switched back to his old clubs this week while Ping is making him a new set of I-5’s. We’re not sure why he would switch in the middle of the year, but had we known he was going back to his old set this week, we would have recommended using him at the NEC. DiMarco relies on accuracy from his irons perhaps more than any player in the field this week. He’s currently in third place at -3.

Obviously you need to make other plans if you were going to use him this week. He’s had a miserable year, but owners were hoping he was on the verge of turning it around. He may still get it going, but it won’t be this week.

DiMarco was the only one in the Top 10 who failed to break 70. He definitely let a chance slip away by not taking advantage of the favorable scoring conditions on Sunday. Still, DiMarco has four Top 10’s in his last five events. Continue to play him while he’s on his current hot streak.

DiMarco will once again battle Singh today just as he did at the PGA Championship. Of course he will be hoping for a slightly different result this time around.

Like co-leader Jim Furyk, DiMarco is often thought of as a gritty competitor and a grinder. His 7-under 70-67-69=206 positions him for his first top-10 PGA TOUR finish since the 2010 Reno-Taho. DiMarco ranks in the top 10 in putting, GIR and driving accuracy for the week, so all phases of his game seem to be clicking.

After a nice start to the year, he’s chased a T52 at the Farmers with a pair of missed cuts. However, the Florida resident might be a sneaky investment in March when the TOUR migrates to his state.

DiMarco was last seen at the Transitions Championship where he tied for 14th and broke a string of four consecutive missed cuts. Statistically, he’s still down the middle of the fairway splitting 67.64 percent of his fairways and holding his own with the putter ranking 27th in Strokes Gained-Putting. His struggles have predictably come with the length, as he’s 180th in driving distance and he’s struggled to hold the greens ranking 149th in GIR.

We may be witnessing a career rebound. After three years outside the top 125 in earnings, DiMarco finished 113th last year. He extended the positive trend at last week’s Sony Open with a share of 13th place, and has brought the vibe to the desert this week. In addition to hitting all 14 fairways today, he hit 14 greens and needed only 24 putts. He birdied nine holes including all four par 5s. The 43-year-old then signed his card with early possession of the clubhouse lead at 12-under 132. He’ll play Palmer Private in Saturday’s third round.

DiMarco’s 2012 highlights have been limited to a pair of top 15s among six paydays in 15 starts. He’s missed five of his last six putts, but his putter bailed him out today. He hit only 11 greens in regulation but converted seven birdies, four of which from beyond 10 feet including rolls of 24'5" and 15'5" at the fifth and 17th holes, respectively. After a pair of birdies inside six feet to start his round at holes 1 and 2, he poured in respective par saves from 25'5" and 10'4" at the third and fourth holes to maintain momentum. He staked the early clubhouse lead but it won’t hold.